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[WIP] Weavescale Sorcerer Kit (available for testing), and Alarin NPC

ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
edited December 2017 in General Modding
Hey guys,

I'm working on a NPC, and created a new kit to fit him. Without further ado, here are the mod features:

A brand new kit, that will be available for PC (justifying it roleplay-wise might be a tad complicated though) but is mostly meant for the NPC:
Weavescale Sorcerer:



Class description: The Weavescale Sorcerers is a secretive organisation of Mystra-worshipping sorcerers. Most of their members are Neutral individuals who left the Yuan-ti ever-scheming society to study magic for the sake of the Art, but humans may become Weavescale Sorcerers if they undergo the transformation to become Tainted Ones. Weavescale Sorcerers have their own set of rituals, which give them a better control over their magic abilities, slightly limiting them in the process.
Features:
• Can only be Human, and on Character Creation, changes Race to Yuan-Ti and grants Scale Armor: -2 bonus to AC, +2 bonus to Constitution
• Arcana Burst: A Weavescale Sorcerer can cast Arcana Burst once per day per 2 levels. Arcana Burst drains a spell from the Weavescale Sorcerer (of the highest level may still cast) to deal stunning (Non-lethal) damage equal to 1d4 per level up to 20d4 at level 20 to a single target. The target may save vs spells for half damage. Once the Weavescale Sorcerer has obtained Elemental Mastery, may choose what type of damage Arcana Burst deals. Arcana Burst is considered to be a spell of the highest level the Weavescale Sorcerer can cast. Casting time is 1, range is 30 feet.
• Elemental Mastery: From level 7 on, a Weavescale Sorcerer can alter its spells to change the type of damage they deal. This affects all damaging spells, except innate ones and spells that deal physical damage. Upon casting them, the Weavescale Sorcerer will have to choose between Acid, Cold, Electric, Fire and Sonic (Non-lethal). Aside from the damaging part, the spell will behave exactly as the original, should it have any extra effect or allow a saving throw. If the original spell deals Magic damage, the Weavescale Sorcerer may also choose magic damage.
• Arcane Reach: From level 9 on, a Weavescale Sorcerer is able to shape its magic so that its touch spells and touch melee magical weapon (example: Vampiric Touch, Imprisonment, …) have a longer range than that of an ordinary sorcerer. This bonus is passive and affects every touch spell. At level 9, the range of these spells is 10 feet, increasing to 20 at level 14, and then to 30 at level 19.
• Counterspell Mastery: From level 20, every spell-deflecting ability now returns the spell to the sender rather than just deflecting it.
• Lower Elemental Resistance: From level 9, and then once every 4 levels, the Weavescale Sorcerer may cast Lower Elemental Resistance. may then choose from 4 elements (Acid, Cold, Electric, Fire) and a target. The target will have its corresponding resistance lowered by 10 (+1 per level)% for 5 turns. This spell offers no saving throw, bypasses magic resistance, and may lower the resistance below 0, effectively increasing the damage dealt to the target.
• Custom HLA table:
o May not choose the HLAs that give extra spellcasts
o May not choose Improved Alacrity
o May choose Scaletatoo of Speed once: Passively reduces casting time by one.
o May choose Seal of Spellfury once: Once per day, the Weavescale Sorcerer may cast spells with no delay between them, and deals 20% increased Elemental Damage for two rounds. Once these rounds have ended however, deals 20% reduced damage and casting time is increased by 2 for 1 turn
o May choose Slithervoice up to three times. Slithervoice is similar to Wail of the Banshee in that it forces any enemy in range to save vs Death with a +2 bonus or die, but on top of that, surviving enemies have all their saving throws reduced by 2 for a turn.
o May choose Weavescale Resilience I, II and III. These grant a cumulative 2, 5 and 8% bonus magic resistance
o Once Weavescale Resilience has been picked three times, may select School Immunity. School Immunity is a one-time ability that grants permanent immunity to the school of the choice of the caster

Disadvantages:
• Experience Penalty: 20%
• Magic Damage penalty: 25%
• May cast one fewer spell per level
• Max number of spells of each level caps at 5 for spells of level 5-, 4 for spells of levels 6+ (instead of 6 spells of each level for a normal Sorcerer)





Compatibility: Spell Revision and IWDification are recommended for a better consistency of the mod, since I used SR's version of some spells to make mine, and IWDification's new wizard spells are also covered by this mod.

And a NPC, Alarin, which should be fully voiced by myself eventually:

Alarin is a Lawful Neutral Weavescale Yuan-Ti Abomination Sorcerer. The Weavescale order is a Neutral-aligned secretive organisation of Yuan-Ti sorcerers and mages. They are tracked by their kin for being traitors. The Weavescale order considers that Magic is an art which shouldn’t be used towards lesser goals, such as political ends. Thus they accordingly despise organisations such as the Red Wizards of Thay, and, of course, their own kin.


In addition to the usual perks of a Weavescale Sorcerer, Alarin has special powers due to his Yuan-Ti abomination true nature:
-Has an innate 20% magic resistance.
-Can polymorph at will between a Human form and a Yuan-Ti form. As a Yuan-Ti, he gains an extra attack per round, increased Thac0, Strength, Charisma, but his cast time increases by 3.
-Starts with Slitherblade+2 in his inventory. Only Alarin may wield this sword. Slitherblade can be enhanced up to +3 in SoA and +5 in ToB.

Stats:
Str: 14 (18/00 as a Yuan-Ti)
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Int: 14
Wis: 18
Cha: 15 (19 as a Yuan-Ti)
Total: 83

I'm planning on using the MANLEY9 male portrait, because my skills at making portraits or any kind of drawing are absolute zero, but if anyone feels like making a male human with Yuan-ti features portrait, feel free to contact me :wink:


Work Progression:
Kit: Available as a standalone for testing! Functional, though there might be some inconsistencies I missed (Spell Icons or string issues. I checked them but on 400 spells there must be some I missed)



NPC:
The new sprites, enemies, scripts and items from the SoA questline are finished. For that part of the game, the dialogs are written, though not all of them are actually implemented. I've selected a few areas from IWD that will host the quest, I still have some work to do on that part.
What remains to be done:
-Properly implementing the quest
-Properly implementing the custom areas
-Banters: part of the writing and implementation
-At a later point, the ToB questline. It probably won't be included in the first release.


ETA: I can't give any ETA for the NPC as I have never made a NPC mod, or a quest Mod, and I don't know how long it'll take for me to learn all that.

Known Issues:
None at this time, please report any bug you find or things you would want to behave otherwise :smiley:


25/12/17: Various bugfixes and description update. Fixed the superlong installation issue.

28/12/17: Various bugfixes. One balance change: experience penalty now starts at level 7, and is now 10%, down from 20.
Post edited by Arunsun on
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Comments

  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    I always did like the Yuan-ti after playing IWD. The NPC, when you get it figured out, would be a great addition to BG & BG2. B)
  • AquadrizztAquadrizzt Member Posts: 1,069
    Out of curiosity, do you have a plan for implementing Elemental Mastery?
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    Out of curiosity, do you have a plan for implementing Elemental Mastery?

    I considered two options:

    My first call was to set a permanent, undispellable spellstate on all mages and sorcerer that would basically be "not_weavescale" and one for the weavescale sorcerer that would be "weavescale", and then modify the spells directly, using the "cast spell on condition" with the condition being "spellstate of the caster is... ", and it would thus cast the Vanilla spell for mages/sorcerers and the custom one for this kit. However that would imply installing this kit after most tweaks, and might have caused AI issues etc... It appeared far too clanky, so I quickly gave up on that.

    The solution I chose was to use a dialog upon level up that would check every known spell from the list of spell I have modified, and if there were some vanilla spells among them I would make them learn the custom spell and forget the old one. The issue with this solution is that if you choose a vanilla spell a first time, it would be forgotten, so the next time you may choose a spell of that level, it would be available again. To solve that, while checking what vanilla spell you know, the dialog will also check if you know the custom counterpart, and if you do, will tell you that you chose a spell you already know and allow you to pick another spell through the dialog (in the same way some other mods work, like Shadow Adept for example, or my Warlock mod). The custom spells feature two spell abilities, one for level 1-6, that essentially casts the vanilla spell, one for level 7+, that allows you to pick from a list, much like Spell Immunity, the type of damage you want, and then casts a copy of the vanilla spell whose damage component was modified.


    There might be an elegant way to make copies of every affected wizard spell with WeiDU and make the process automatic but I am far too amateur to even consider that, which is why I chose to just do that manually with IWDification and Spell Revision, since mod users use them most of the time.
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  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    There could be an issue with this, in that your custom spells would not trigger scripted effects that look for the "SpellCastOnMe" trigger.

    As an example, one of my mods used to replace a bunch of priest spells with clones, and my ones Restoration spell would not successfully restore the girl in the Tradesmeet skinwalker quest. In that case I was changing the level of the spell... so I changed it to cast an empty spell at the new level that simply used 146 to cast the original spell. Here, that wouldn't work for you...

    But on the other hand that was the only instance I could find where game scripts were affected. I'm not aware of any scripts that check for wizard spells in this way. So only a potential issue, not necessarily a real issue.

    Thank you for the feedback, I just checked the scripts and the only occurences of spells I have modified with this trigger are Magic Missiles cast on enemy mages that make them cast Shield. But some mods might add some of these triggers and compatibility compels :smiley: ... The workaround I can think of is that if you choose the original damage type, it casts the original spell instead of a copy that does the same.

    By the way, this just got me thinking that my alternate magic missile wouldn't be blocked by Shield. And this might concern some other spells but none come to my mind. Maybe Zone of Sweet Air and custom clouds. These should be easy fixes though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited October 2017
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    You can do a check at install time, for each spell you clone, that looks for any spells or items with opcode 206/318/321/324 effects targeting the original, and use CLONE_EFFECT to add identical effects that target the RES of your new clone spell.

    I'll probably do that then, it sounds like a reasonable solution even for a WeiDu beginner.



    The scripting thing is harder, alas.

    I know there is a way to have 326 check the caster's state/stat even for effects targeting others... this is probably the way I would implement it.
    - clone Magic Missile to a subspell
    - make more clone subspells with alternate damage types
    - set states or stats for each damage type
    - alter the base MM spell to check the casters state/stat and apply the appropriate subspell
    - rinse and repeat for every direct damage spell

    You would just need to install the mod after any and all spell mods.

    EDIT - if you want to get cleverer you could have the caster radiate an aura that sets a state on every else in the area, mod then have the damage effects can check the state of the target instead of the caster. I don't think this would actually gain anything, though, since like I say, you can have targeted effects check the caster' state

    I'll probably give up on this. It affects only three scripts attributed to some mages in the Beamdog-added quests, so it clearly is minor enough to be overlooked. I have never seen them cast shield anyway.


    Thank you for your help !
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    Bumping the thread:

    The kit is available for download in the OP. It's functional, though there might be some inconsistencies I missed (Spell Icons or string issues for instance. I checked them but on 400 spells there must be some I missed)
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    @Arunsun does this work in both BGEE and BG2EE?

    EDIT: I tried installing on BGEE and it gets stuck and doen't complete even after 15 minutes.
    Post edited by Necromanx2 on
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    @Arunsun does this work in both BGEE and BG2EE?

    EDIT: I tried installing on BGEE and it gets stuck and doen't complete even after 15 minutes.

    It should work on both BGEE and BG2EE.

    Concerning the installation, it is indeed very long, but not actually stuck. The reason for that is that I made a script that checks every spell and patches them if they have a certain effect (protection from X spell and the likes) that concerns one of the spell I edited.

    A basic application is for the level 1 mage spell Shield. It gives protection from the Magic Missile mage spell. Due to editing the Magic Missile spell to enable choosing the elements, I have to patch the Shield spell so that it will also protect from these alternate Magic Missile. The script ensures every concerned spell that exists at the time of the install will undergo that process and be patched if needed, but I agree it's a very heavy process that takes a lot of time, for edge cases only but it ensures optimal compatibility with other mods.


    I'll probably make an alternate version that will patch only the vanilla spells. It might trigger issues in very marginal cases with other mods but it will require a much lower amount of time to install.
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  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    After hours of waiting, it finally installed on BGEE. This is the last mod I installed.
    Here is what I found:
    1) The kit name and description in the Sorcerer section is for the Warlock.
    2) In game the class name and description is for the Warlock.
    3) It did give me the race bonus to CON, but my race name is blank.
    4) I have an extra ability called "Weapon Slot", which has no description.
    5) I do see the "Arcane Burst" ability and it seems to work.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    After hours of waiting, it finally installed on BGEE. This is the last mod I installed.
    Here is what I found:
    1) The kit name and description in the Sorcerer section is for the Warlock.
    2) In game the class name and description is for the Warlock.
    3) It did give me the race bonus to CON, but my race name is blank.
    4) I have an extra ability called "Weapon Slot", which has no description.
    5) I do see the "Arcane Burst" ability and it seems to work.

    The description things is an overlook I fixed but haven't published yet...
    I know about the race issue, I'll probably leave it to human in the end so that there will be no issues with romances.
    The Weapon Slot ability is probably the ability that checks if you have learnt spells concerned by the modifications involved in this mod and replaces them. I'll change the name.


    I am sorry there are so many bugs, this really is like an alpha, but I swear I'll update it by the end of next week and fix most bugs.

    Thank you very much for testing these despite them being bugridden :smiley:
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    Updated the main post with the new patch correcting the various issues mentioned above. Feel free to test it out and report any extra bug
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Great! Will try.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    @Arunsun
    Notes on what I see:
    1) The install is much quicker.
    2) Still have the issue that at character creation and in game it says Warlock with the Warlack description.
    3) I see Arcane Burst and Weavescale Magic as special abilities now. So this looks like an update.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592


    2) Still have the issue that at character creation and in game it says Warlock with the Warlack description.

    Well I really can't figure this one out, I never had this issue in my install and it works perfectly well on my install, I have the right descriptions and all that... Have you properly uninstalled the former version before installing the new one?
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    @Arunsun OK. My bad. I was in a rush to try this and did not properly uninstall first. It works now!

    Thanks!
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    @Arunsun, could I get a better explanation of what the Weavescale Magic ability does? It seems it will give me alternate versions of spells, but I am not sure why and how I am suppose to use the ability?

    EDIT: I tried the Weavescale Magic ability at 1st level and it gave me what looks like an exact copy of the magic missile spell. Not sure what I should be seeing?
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    edited December 2017

    @Arunsun, could I get a better explanation of what the Weavescale Magic ability does? It seems it will give me alternate versions of spells, but I am not sure why and how I am suppose to use the ability?

    EDIT: I tried the Weavescale Magic ability at 1st level and it gave me what looks like an exact copy of the magic missile spell. Not sure what I should be seeing?

    Actually it has to do with the Elemental Mastery, Counterspell Mastery and Arcane reach. So until level 7 you won't see any difference, but once you have reached this level, upon casting a damaging spell for example, you will get to choose what type of damage you want. If you don't use Weavescale magic, you won't get the proper version of the spells affected by one of these three Weavescale Sorcerer perquisites, you will get the normal version instead. Basically cast it once everytime you level up, or at least once you're level 7, and every level thereafter, and it'll grant you the proper spells. Once you've casted it you should see a new ability called Clean spellbook in your special abilities, cast it to clean your spellbook of duplicates, in your case, duplicate Magic Missile.

    I'll probably explain the reason for the existence of this ability in the class description.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Should the ability show up at 7th level instead of 1st?
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    Should the ability show up at 7th level instead of 1st?

    Well it shows up at level 1 in the way I coded it, but maybe it should show up later indeed. Level 5 then actually, because it affects one level 3 spell at that level, which is minor spell deflection.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    So does this mean that all spells I have will have a duplicate made when I use this ability (Magic Missile did at 1st level)? Wont this clutter the spellbook?
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Do I need patch 2.5 for best results for this mod?
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    So does this mean that all spells I have will have a duplicate made when I use this ability (Magic Missile did at 1st level)? Wont this clutter the spellbook?

    No it doesn't. Like I said after casting that spell you get another spell in your special abilities to clear the duplicates in your spellbook. You will retain the alternate version obviously.

    Do I need patch 2.5 for best results for this mod?

    For now, not particularly. There has been no new modder features released so far that I am aware of. Later, when these will be revealed and implemented, well maybe I'll include some of them
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    The XP penalty on top of all the other penalties seems excessive. I mean a Sorcerer already has a slow progression, but the 20% XP penalty will leave this kit 1 level down buy the end of BGEE. 2 levels down by the end of BG2EE and 4 levels down by the end of ToB. Combine the extra slow progression with the lower spells per level per day. Lower total known spells and the lesser damage of spells, and this is a harsh kit in my opinion. You really need to love this to stick it out.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    Yeah I have been testing that a bit and 20% is much more of a hit than I thought at first. But I feel that despite having less casts per day than a normal Sorcerer or even a dragon disciple, this kit is still stronger than its counterparts, at least when you reach level 7+. I'll probably let an experience penalty, but make it 10% rather than 20%. And possibly I will introduce that experience penalty only from level 7, because otherwise, before level 7 you're essentially a subpar sorcerer that doesn't really need to be hit harder. You will still lag behind in terms of level but not that much, and you'll still reach the exp caps in each game, provided you do most of the quest.


    Concerning the NPC and the questline that comes along, well, I am glad to announce that it has greatly improved. The new sprites, enemies, scripts and items from the SoA questline are finished. For that part of the game, the dialogs are written, though not all of them are actually implemented. I've selected a few areas from IWD that will host the quest, I still have some work to do on that part.
    What remains to be done:
    -Properly implementing the quest
    -Properly implementing the custom areas
    -Banters: part of the writing and implementation
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited December 2017
    @Arunsun, I uninstalled and reinstalled the attached file at the top and I still have the -20% XP at first level. I did a 50 XP quest in Candlekeep and got 40 XP. The in game description says it should be 10%.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592

    @Arunsun, I uninstalled and reinstalled the attached file at the top and I still have the -20% XP at first level. I did a 50 XP quest in Candlekeep and got 40 XP. The in game description says it should be 10%.

    Yeah I failed to properly save the file... now it should work
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    @Arunsun, question for you. When you say Magic damage is reduced by 25%, does this mean all the Weavescale spell damage is reduced by 25% or just non-elemental damage (like magic missile) is reduced 25%?
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